Button Gwinnett

Button Gwinnett (1735-19 May 1777) was Governor of Georgia from 4 March to 8 May 1777 during the American Revolutionary War, succeeding John A. Treutlen and preceding Archibald Bulloch.

Biography
Button Gwinnett was born in 1735 in Down Hatherley, Gloucestershire, Great Britain to a reverend, the third of his parents' seven children. Gwinnett attended the College School in Gloucester and became a merchant, emigrating to America in 1762 with his wife. He bought a plantation in the state of Georgia, and he became a delegate from Georgia to the Continental Congress. Gwinnett voted in favor of the US Declaration of Independence on 2 July 1776, and he was one of its signers. Gwinnett was a candidate for Brigadier-General in the Continental Army's 1st Georgia Regiment, but his rival Lachlan McIntosh beat him to this position. Gwinnett responded to this by arresting his brother on fake treason charges, and McIntosh called him a scoundrel and liar. In response, Gwinnett challenged him to a duel, and both men were wounded after shooting at twelve paces. Gwinnett died of his wounds three days later.